CZ Submachine Gun in Syria

UPDATE: I was sure I had seen that gun before … I must have inspected ~50 different guns, but for some reason I forgot to look up Czech guns, so now I look like an idiot who cannot identify a relatively popular 20th century subgun. The gun is a Czech CZ Model 25 (Sa vz. 23). Epic fail. Will leave this post up anyway.

A reader spotted an interesting submachine gun in a Vice documentary Syria’s Unending Rebel Conflict: Wolves of the Valley. Just before the documentary end, at about 24:49, a man in a black range rover is shown waving around a submachine gun. It appears to be chambered in 9mm. The receiver is tubular, not unlike the Sten or Sterling submachine gun, it has a magazine inserted into the pistol grip and lacks a trigger guard. It has either a side-folding or under-folding wire stock. It has a forward handguard under the receiver, similar to the Uzi handguard.

The trigger group/magazine well/pistol grip looks very Uzi-like, and also looks welded in place. I would not be surprised it was borrowed from an Mini/Micro/regular Uzi. The full documentary is embedded below …

Founder and Dictator-In-Chief of TFB. A passionate gun owner, a shooting enthusiast and totally tacti-uncool. Favorite first date location: any gun range. Steve can be contacted here.

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guest

Isn’t that a CZ-23? Czech made SMG 7.62short.

TGM

I believe it is a Czech SA VZ 23.

asiri

Sa.26 Czech smg

Bjørn Hjelmerud

It is a CZ-23 chambered in 9mm, the 7.62 version has the magazine angeled forward. The wire stock has been flipped forward, but is supposed to point down.

Johnrambo1

Cz-23

Johnny21

Might be the VZ 26 model. Barrels with the Czech VZ 26 models are changable with 9 and 7.62mm, since the 7.62 amunition cartrige has a “bottelneck” and the bottom part has the same diameter as the 9mm magazines take both cartriges without any problems

http://www.thegunzone.com/556dw.html Daniel E. Watters

It is the Czech Sa.25 in 9x19mm with its stock folded and a 40rd magazine inserted. Syria was a documented user of the Sa.25 and its fixed stock sibling, the Sa.23.

Andrey Martim

This reminds me of a PM-63…

TGM

The protective ears over the front and rear sight are lower profile and more of a rounded “hill” shape on the PM-63 than those on the SA VZ 23.

The rear of the PM-63 receiver is not the protruding pipe shape of the SA VZ-23 rear receiver.

dp

The essential differences between PM/Wz.63 (Polish) and Vz.23/25 (Czech) are two. First is ammunition – PM is for 9mm Makarov, Vz.23/25 is for 9mm Luger. Second is construction; with PM the action/bolt is external like with pistol. AT Vz.23/25 the action is housed inside of tubular receiver.

Dfm Kreactions

Czech vz-24

ANONYMOUS COWARD

WZ63

opie

rofl it is a CZ26 freaking hillarious great work there steve, a gun writer who dont know his SMG’s. i say fail article….

Cymond

It’s hard to keep up with the wide variety of foreign military arms, both past and present. I cannot speak for Steve, but I tend to focus my interest on firearms that I could hypothetically purchase in the US. I have no more interested in an unobtainable old Czech gun than I am in any other unobtainable military technology.

http://www.thegunzone.com/556dw.html Daniel E. Watters

FWIW: Parts kits for the Sa.23 family were imported to the US within the last decade or so. So there should be some semi-auto builds floating around.

TGM

I didn’t spend all those night in grade school under the covers of my bed with a flashlight and my worn copy of Small Arms of The World 12th edition to hear such weak excuses.

Cymond

We as said, I do not speak for Steve. My point was that we all have our areas of interest and it is hard to keep track of everything.
My stepfather is fond of large military tech such as guided missiles, submarines, and tanks. When he was in grade school around 1960, he researched the effects of nuclear weapons. Afterwards, he genuinely did not expect to survive to adulthood and he still comments that he is surprised that the ‘Cold War’ never went “hot”. And yet he has no knowledge of bizarre guns like the Mateba 6 Unica, Dardick, or Nagant revolvers.

Can you honestly say that you have never stumbled across a firearm with which you were not already familiar? That there is nothing more to learn?

opie

its obtainable in the usa dude, now is the time for the CZ26 to start showing up more often in the usa. look at apex or royal tiger, grab a parts kit. there are about 4 or more people working on semi auto build parts for these. if you want to see progress check out weaponsguild(dot)com. i know there is one person producing some to sell, hes just waiting on ATF approval letter first.

Just to recollect it: yes it looks like Vz.25, but it may not be. One such derivative was made in Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) and also exported to South Africa of old days.
Vz.23 was basic model with wooden stock. Vz.25 was para version with folding metal stock. These were chambered for Luger 9x19mm.
Very similar set, but modified to shoot 7.62x25mm Tokarev were models Vz.24 and Vz.26. Distinguishing feature is slight rake angle on bit wider magazine. In situation of Syrian nightmare both caliber ammunition should be plentiful.

hydepark

The community that frequents this blog never fails to amaze me. Every time a weird or obscure weapon comes up, one or another person here invariably knows exactly what it is. Thanks guys, you made my day.

As for one of the guys here that doesn’t want anything to do with something that may not be possible to acquire, I think that’s a little short-sighted. I mean, there are plenty of machine gun shoots around the country with some pretty bizarre stuff that maybe you could rent and shoot one day. I am still holding out hope that CZ makes their new EVO available to us one day, does that make me hopelessly optimistic? Maybe. And the guy hanging out of that Range Rover probably was expecting to get handed an AK of some sort, but took what was available to him in a pretty crazy civil war. Just my thoughts.

Noir

Just little correction: its not vz.25 but vz.48 – issued in 1948

snmp

In fact, the UZI is clone of the Sa 23/25/24/26 with the Mag of berretta MAB38.
The smg look like to be an Sa 25 (vz. 48b)

Scott

The Uzi took inspiration from this design since this gun existed before the Uzi. Just like they did with the Valmet M62 to make the Galil.